Planning your first Colorado hunting trip can be a very daunting task. You will have ton's of questions. Unfortunately some of the answers you get will actually the trip worse.
This series of articles is intended to give you a head start, coming from a person that learned the hard way. We will talk about season selection, equipment, transportation, fitness, and setting expectations.
Ok, let's get started. When should you plan on coming out here? Well that all depends. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself.
- What is my preferred weapon? Archery, Muzzle loader, or Rifle?
- What is my tolerance to cold?
- What kind of shape am I in?
- How much time will I have to hunt?
- How far am I traveling?
- What kind of camping gear do I have?
Let's discuss each one of these in turn.
Archery and muzzle loader season typically occurs in September of every year. I prefer to hunt during Archery season for a couple of reasons. One, the weather is nice with highs in the low 60's and lows near 30 or so. Of course it can get much cooler and we have been known to get hit with a few inches of heavy wet snow. But that is OK. The second reason I like this season is it is a month long. I typically go opening week with the wife, then the last 4 or 5 days.
The second thing you should consider is your tolerance to cold, which may be limited by your camping gear. Winter in the mountains can be harsh, cold and unforgiving. September is fairly nice (even tho this year it was cold has heck the closing weekend), to down right brutally cold during 4th season rifle (Middle of November). Fourth season camping in a heater less Walmart tent can be down right dangerous. It is just to darned cold not to heated retreat to hole up in during a two or three day snow storm. One the other hand, you can probably get by with a good sleeping bag and a backpacking tent during Sept.
Here is a real world example. A couple of years ago I took the kids up to hunt during 3rd rifle season up on the flattops (NW of Vail Colorado, elevation 10,500). First off we had to dig out about a foot of snow to setup my outfitter tent. The snow was coming down about an inch an hour. Once setup we ran out and cut up a tree for use in our wood stove. The wood stove kept us nice and toasty during the night as the temperature dropped to zero. Our morning hunt left us kind of cold, and thankful for a place to kick back, and to dry our clothes out.
My next article will talk about your trip out here, how much time you'll have and fitness.
